Scandals in sports are occurring at an alarming frequency. A quick google news quiery reveals there are no shortage of stories: in the NFL, women staff and executives were promised an improved work-place culture that has fallen short; the Washington Commanders were fined $10 million dollars for having a culture that is “highly unprofessional” including bullying, intimidation, and multiple allegations of sexual harassment of women; and in the NHL it was found the Chicago Blackhawks ignorned a 2010 sexual assault accusation. While these cases are not dissimilar, each instance of malfeasance required each organization to retroactively take actions to correct illicit behavior, pay restitution, and adopt new policies. The question that must be asked is, “how do we shift sports organizations’ from being reactive to proactive?”
The allure of winning at all costs sometimes motivates actors within sports organizations to violate industry rules and practices. Dismantling this behavior requires sports organizations and teams to prioritize evaluating how their people work together and conceptualize the culture that defines accepted behaviors. While this post has focused on the extreme of scandal, perhaps more problematic is how scandal overshadows the need for sports organizations and teams to be more generally curious and thoughtful about how they operate. Rather than waiting for scandal to expose any weaknesses, proactively asking pertinent questions, listening to stakeholders and prioritizing transparency can mitigate many of the problems that persist in sports. Below are additional reasons why sports leaders should have studied their organizations and teams yesterday:
- Organizational inquiry exposes weaknesses and strengths
The perception of what is going well and what needs to change can vary from person to person. Leaders may erroneously believe that a new policy or plan is the best for the organization when the staff broadly disagrees. This misalignment can inhibit the success of organizations and teams. Conducting a culture study will map strengths and weaknesses, concretely pointing to what is going well and what needs to be improved. This provides credibility to leaders as they will speak to the broad based experiences of their people.
- Elevates marginalized voices
The focus of two of the articles shared above were about women experiencing negative workplace cultures. Leadership in sports continues to be dominated by white men, which can lead to a workplace that does not value the opinions or experiences of those not in positions of power. Examining the lived experiences of those throughout sports organizations and teams is essential to elevate the voices of marginalized individuals. Listening to a diverse set of stakeholders will build better outcomes in sports because their challenges will be routinely exposed, allowing for moments of productive change, rather than these individuals being denied a voice in the process and outcomes of their sports organizations and teams.
- Drives innovation
Sports organizations are obsessed with finding any possible new technology or strategy to increase their “on-field” performance. Leaders need to do the same when it comes to their people. Innovation is stifled when only the same people are asked for their opinion. Proactive inquiry will encourage innovation since individual’s will feel their opinion is valued, leading to more ideas being shared broadly. Additionally, organizations and teams will be able to pivot to new strategies more easily since engaging in organizational wide discovery will create common language for what is going well and what needs to be changed.
- Encourages broad-based information sharing and learning
Sports organizations shrouded in secrecy fail to productively share information and encourage learning. People who are siloed in their respective fields become protective of their information, failing to conceptualize how their roles are part of the larger success of their organizations. When leaders research their organization or team, this encourages the sharing of information on the lived experiences for different people. This builds understanding and empathy, qualities that are essential for workplace happiness and productivity.
- Millennials and Gen Z expect organizations with strong moral and ethical practices*
As the labor market shifts to being dominated by millenilals and Gen Zers, leaders are expected to make decisions grounded in a moral and ethical framework that mirrors the outlook of their employees. Sports teams and organizations that fail to routinely examine their culture and make strategic decisions to improve the workplace will fail to retain top-talent. Gen Z and millennials will consider the quality of a company’s culture over just the historical success of the sports organization.
*https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/understanding-generation-z-in-the-workplace.htm
For more information:
Marc Christian at contact@intellisportanalytics.com
